In2O3thin film resistivity control by doping metal oxide insulator for MFMox device applications

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a novel ferroelectric transistor design using a resistive oxide film in place of the gate dielectric. By replacing the gate dielectric with a resistive oxide film, and by optimizing the value of the film resistance, the bottom gate of the ferroelectric layer is electrically connected to the silicon substrate, eliminating the trapped charge effect and resulting in the improvement of the memory retention characteristics. The resistive oxide film is preferably a doped conductive oxide in which a conductive oxide is doped with an impurity species. The doped conductive oxide is most preferred to be In 2 O 3  with the dopant species being hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide, or aluminum oxide.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to semiconductor device and nonvolatilememory transistor, and more particularly to ferroelectric gatetransistor structures and methods of fabrication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Ferroelectric materials are composed of many randomly-distributedpermanently polarized regions. Under the presence of an electric field,the regions with a polarization component in the direction of theelectric field grow at the expense of the non-aligned regions so that anet polarization can result. If the electric field decreases, thepolarization also decreases but at a slower rate so that even when theelectric field becomes zero, a remnant polarization remains. A negativecoercive field is required to bring the polarization to zero. Thishysteresis behavior of a ferroelectric material is the basis offerroelectric nonvolatile memory devices.

Currently there are two types of ferroelectric nonvolatile memorydevices: ferroelectric capacitor which uses a transistor to detect thepolarization of a ferroelectric capacitor, and ferroelectric transistorwhich detects a change in the transistor conductance caused by thepolarization of a ferroelectric gate material. The ferroelectrictransistor is much more advantageous than the ferroelectric capacitordue to the smaller surface area which enables higher density memorychip, and the non-destructive readout which significantly reduces thefatigue problem.

The ferroelectric transistor is typically aferroelectric-gate-controlled semiconductor field-effect transistor(FET), which employs a ferroelectric film in the gate stack of the FET,and in which a proper polarization of the ferroelectric film can createan inversion layer in the channel region of the transistor. The basicferroelectric-gate controlled field-effect transistor is ametal-ferroelectric silicon (MFS) FET. The term MFS represents thelayers in the gate stack of the ferroelectric transistor. Thus the gatestack of the MFS transistor consists of a metal (M) gate electrodedisposed on a ferroelectric (F) gate dielectric on the silicon (S)channel of the transistor. FIG. 1 shows the schematic of an n-channelMFS transistor. A ferroelectric film 12 is formed as a gate insulatingfilm on a p-type silicon substrate 13, together with source 14 and drain15 regions having a high concentration of n-type impurity ions. A metalgate electrode 11 is formed over the ferroelectric film 12. The MFStransistor is isolated by the isolation trenches 16.

However, effective transistor operation of the above MFS transistor isdifficult to achieve due to the requirement of the ferroelectric/siliconinterface. When a ferroelectric film is deposited directly on thesilicon substrate, metals and oxygen from the ferroelectric layer maydiffuse into the ferroelectric-silicon interface, creating interfacetrapped charges which affect the polarization of the ferroelectric film,and overall may make the operation of the ferroelectric transistorunstable. Further, since the thermal expansion coefficient and latticestructure of a ferroelectric film is not compatible with silicon, it isvery difficult to form a high-quality ferroelectric film with a cleaninterface directly on the silicon substrate.

To address the drawbacks posed by the direct ferroelectric/siliconinterface, a gate dielectric can be inserted between the ferroelectricfilm and the silicon substrate. The ferroelectric transistor is thencalled metal-ferroelectric-oxide (or insulator) silicon (MFOS or MFIS)FET. FIG. 2A shows a MFOS memory transistor using a gate oxide layer 27formed between the silicon substrate 13 and the ferroelectric film 12.Alternatively, a metal floating gate layer 28 can be added between theferroelectric film 12 and the gate oxide layer 27 as shown in FIG. 2Bfor a metal-ferroelectric-metal-oxide (or insulator) silicon (MFMOS orMFMIS) transistor. A suitable conducting material (e.g. Pt or Ir) isnormally selected for the floating gate 28 to allow the deposition ofthe ferroelectric thin film and to prevent diffusion of theferroelectric material into the gate dielectric and the channel. Thefloating gate layer 28 is also called bottom electrode, or bottom gate,in reference to the other gate electrode 11, called top electrode, ortop gate.

Such gate stack structures (metal-ferroelectric-oxide gate stack ormetal-ferroelectric-metal-oxide gate stack) overcome the surfaceinterface and surface state issues of a ferroelectric layer in contactwith the silicon substrate. However, they incorporate other difficultiessuch as higher operation voltage and trapped charges in the bottomfloating gate layer. The operation voltage of these transistors ishigher than the ferroelectric layer programming voltage by an amount ofthe voltage across the gate dielectric. And when there is a voltageapplied across the ferroelectric thin film, there will be current flowin the gate stack, and charges would be trapped in this floatingelectrode. The trapped charges may neutralize the polarization chargesat the interface of the bottom electrode and the ferroelectric film andcould shorten the memory retention time of this structure.

Various prior designs have been disclosed to compensate for the trappedcharges in the floating bottom electrode. One of the prior art design toreduce the trapped charges in the lower electrode is the formation of aSchottky diode such as a metal-ferroelectric-metal silicon (MFMS) devicedisclosed in Nakao et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,182, entitled“Nonvolatile semiconductor memory utilizing a ferroelectric film”. ASchottky barrier is formed between the bottom metal electrode of thegate unit (or a very shallow junction layer) and the silicon substrate.The Schottky ferroelectric gate memory transistor requires a spacebetween the bottom electrode and the source and drain region or a veryshallow n-channel under the gate, therefore the drive current of theSchottky ferroelectric gate memory transistor can be relatively low. Hsuet al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,608, entittled “One transistor ferroelectricmemory cell and method of making the same”, and its continuations anddivisions (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,962,884; 6,117,691; 6,018,171; 5,942,776;5,932,904; 6,146,904; 6,011,285; 6,531,325), hereby incorporated byreference, disclose a distance between 50 to 300 nm from the bottommetal electrode to the source and drain to reduce the possible highleakage current due to the increased field intensity at the metal edgeof the Schottky diode because of the sharp edge at the periphery of themetal contact. Alternatively, Willer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,538,273,entittled “Ferroelectric transistor and method for fabricating it”,discloses a recess of the source and drain below the surface of thesemiconductor surface in a Schottky ferroelectric gate memorytransistor.

Another design to reduce the trapped charges in the lower electrode isto provide a conduction path for the lower electrode. Black et al., U.S.Pat. No. 6,069,381, entitled “Ferroelectric memory transistor withresistively coupled floating gate” discloses an integrated resistor inthe form of a spacer between the bottom floating gate electrode and thesource/drain to remove the trapped charges. Moise et al., U.S. Pat. No.6,225,655 and its continuation U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,499, entitled“Ferroelectric transistors using thin film semiconductor gateelectrodes” disclose an external resistor connecting the lower electrodeto ground to drain the trapped charges. This additional resistor ensuresthat the potential of the floating gate will approach that of thesource/drain region after a certain delay time, but this could affectthe high speed switching characteristic of the ferroelectric memory.Yoo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,442, entitled “Ferroelectric memory usingleakage current and multi-numerical system ferroelectric memory”discloses a leakage gate dielectric to remove the trapped chargesthrough the silicon channel. The leakage current is generated by aSchottky emission or a Frankel-Poole emission or Fowler-Nordheimtunneling to reduce the bound charges in the bottom metal electrode.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses a novel design to reduce the trappedcharges in the ferroelectric transistor operation by the use of aresistive oxide film in place of the gate dielectric, fabricated withproper resistance value to optimize the performance of the ferroelectrictransistor. By replacing the gate dielectric with a resistive oxidefilm, and by optimizing the value of the film resistance, the bottomgate of the ferroelectric layer is electrically connected to the siliconsubstrate, therefore the floating gate effect can be eliminated,resulting in the improvement of the memory retention characteristics.Furthermore, the operating voltage for the ferroelectric transistor canbe reduced because of the absence of the gate dielectric.

The resistive oxide film is preferably a doped conductive oxide which isa conductive oxide doped with an impurity species. By varying the dopantconcentration and other fabrication process parameters, the resistiveoxide film can achieve a wide range of resistance suitable for theoptimization of the ferroelectric transistor performance. The dopedconductive oxide is most preferred to be In₂O₃ with the dopant speciesbeing hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide, or aluminumoxide.

The present invention ferroelectric transistor can be ametal-ferroelectric-metal-doped conductive oxide silicon (MFMRS) FET.The gate stack of the MFMRS transistor has a top metal electrode (or topgate) disposed on a ferroelectric layer disposed on a bottom metalelectrode (or bottom gate) disposed on a doped conductive oxide layer onthe silicon substrate. The present invention ferroelectric transistorcan also be a metal-ferroelectric-doped conductive oxide silicon (MFRS)FET. The gate stack of the MFRS transistor has a top metal electrode (ortop gate) disposed on a ferroelectric layer disposed on a dopedconductive oxide layer on the silicon substrate.

The resistive doped conductive oxide further can have the advantages ofpossible lattice matching with the ferroelectric layer, reducing oreliminating the oxygen diffusion problem at the ferroelectric interfaceto improve the reliability of the ferroelectric transistor, and possibleetch selectivity improvement with other dielectric and metal films.

The fabrication process of the present invention ferroelectrictransistor can be performed by a gate etching process or by areplacement gate process. In the gate etching process, the multilayergate stack is deposited and etched, while in the replacement gateprocess, a replacement gate stack is deposited as a place holder for thefabrication of other portions of the device, then the replacement gatestack is removed and the functional gate stack is deposited.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a typical ferroelectric-gate-controlled semiconductorfield-effect transistor (FET) which is a metal-ferroelectric silicon(MFS) FET.

FIG. 2A shows a schematic of a metal-ferroelectric-oxide silicon MFOStransistor.

FIG. 2B shows a schematic of a metal-ferroelectric-metal-oxide siliconMFMOS transistor.

FIG. 3 shows the X-ray patterns of doped In₂O₃ thin films with varioushafnium oxide contents.

FIGS. 4A–D show the X-ray patterns of doped In₂O₃ thin films withdifferent post annealing temperatures.

FIGS. 5A–D show the resistivity of doped In₂O₃ thin films with differentpost annealing temperatures.

FIG. 6 shows the resistivity of doped In₂O₃ thin films with varioushafnium oxide contents and post annealing temperatures.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic of the present invention resistive oxideferroelectric transistor.

FIGS. 8A–B show the operation of the present invention doped conductiveoxide ferroelectric transistor.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the present invention dopedconductive oxide ferroelectric transistor.

FIGS. 10A–F show a representative fabrication process for the gateetching process.

FIGS. 11A–K show a representative fabrication process for thereplacement gate process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The ferroelectric transistor of the present invention is a ferroelectricfield effect transistor having a resistive oxide layer replacing thegate dielectric. By replacing the gate dielectric with a resistive oxidelayer, the ferroelectric layer is electrically connected to thesubstrate, and thus eliminating the trapped charges effect. Further, byusing a resistive oxide layer comprising oxygen component, the siliconinterfacial property of the resistive oxide layer is comparable withthat of the gate dielectric, and the resistance of the resistive oxidelayer would not vary significantly after subsequent processes of annealand oxygen exposure. The resistance of the resistive oxide layer can beadjustable through fabrication process variations and thus can beoptimized to achieve the best performance for the ferroelectrictransistor. In the limits of the present invention, when the resistiveoxide layer is non-conductive, it behaves as a gate dielectric in aconventional ferroelectric transistor. When the resistive oxide layer ishighly conductive (i.e. negligible film resistivity), the ferroelectrictransistor behaves as a conductive oxide ferroelectric transistor,disclosed by the same inventors in a co-pending application “Conductivemetal oxide gate ferroelectric memory transistor”, hereby incorporatedby reference.

The disclosed resistive oxide film is substantially ohmic, meaning for agiven film thickness, the resistance of the resistive film issubstantially constant with respect to the applied voltage (withpreferably less than 20% variation), or the current running through theresistive film is substantially linear with respect to the appliedvoltage. The advantages of using ohmic resistive oxide layer are theease of fabrication process, the ease of device design and simulationsince the I-V characteristics of the resistive oxide film issubstantially linear due to the ohmic law, markedly advantageous thannon-linear I-V characteristics such as the leakage current generated bya Schottky emission or a Frankel-Poole emission or Fowler-Nordheimtunneling.

The resistive oxide film in the present invention is preferably a dopedconductive oxide film in which the conductive oxide is doped with animpurity species or a variety of impurity species to modify itsresistance. The doped conductive oxide preferably exhibits ohmicbehavior, meaning having an I-V characteristic that is substantiallylinear. The conductive oxide film is preferably a conductive oxide filmof any one metal selected from a group of Mo, W, Tc, Re, Ru, Os, Rh, Ir,Pd, Pt, In, Zn, Sn, Sr—Ru or Sr—Co (such as IrO₂ and RuO₂), or arock-salt (NaCl) crystal structure face-centered cubic metal oxide, suchas NdO, NbO, SmO, LaO, and VO. The preferred method of forming theconductive oxide is by deposition. However, other methods may be usedsuch as doping by diffusion and ion implantation. For example, theconductive oxide can be boron (B) doped or fluorine (F) doped ZnO andantimony (Sb) doped or fluorine (F) doped SnO₂.

The conductive oxide may be composed of any number of conductiveperovskite oxides such as lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide (LSCO).Typical examples of simple perovskite oxides are expressed by thegeneral formula ABO₃ such as SrRuO₃ or LaNiO₃, where AB can be anycombination of (A=Ca, Sr) (B=V, Cr, Fe, Ru), (A=La)(B=Ti, Co, Ni, Cu),(A=H, Li, Na, K)(B=Re, Mo, Nb), (A=La_(1−x)Sr_(x))(B=V, Mn, Co). Anotherexample of conductive perovskite oxides is expressed by the generalformula A₂B₂O₇ where (A=Bi, Pd)(B=Ru_(1−x)Bi_(x), Ru_(1−x)Pb_(x)).Examples of layered perovskite oxides include CaTiO, (Sr(Ru, Ir,Cr)O₃)(SrO)_(n) such as SrRuO₃, SrIrO₃, Sr₂RuO₄, Sr₂IrO₄ and Ba₂RuO₄.The conductive oxide film can also include high temperaturesuperconducting oxides such as La_(1−x)Sr_(x)CuO₄, Nd_(1−x)Ce_(x)CuO₄,YBa₂Cu₃O₇, Bi₂Sr₂Ca_(n−1)Cu_(n)O_(2n+4), (Nd_(1−x)Ce_(x))₂CuO₄. See, forexample, Suzuki, U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,240, entitled “Ferroelectricnonvolatile memory and oxide multi-layered structure”, herebyincorporated by reference.

The impurity species is preferably an insulator material, andamorphously distributed throughout the conductive oxide film. Theimpurity species is preferably an element or its non-conductive oxidesuch as hafnium or hafnium oxide (HfO₂ and its variants of oxygen-richor oxygen-deficiency HfO_(x)), zirconium or zirconium oxide (ZrO₂ andits variants of oxygen-rich or oxygen-deficiency ZrO_(x)), lanthanum orlanthanum oxide (LaO₂ and its variants of oxygen-rich oroxygen-deficiency LaO_(x)), or aluminum or aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃ and itsvariants of oxygen-rich or oxygen-deficiency AlO_(x)).

The conductive oxide is most preferred to be In₂O₃ with the dopantspecies being hafnium, zirconium, lanthanum, aluminum or their oxides.Doping with an element, for example hafnium, will likely generatehafnium oxide due to the presence of oxygen in the conductive oxidefilm. The following experiment demonstrates the feasibility of thefabrication of a typical resistive oxide film of conductive oxide In₂O₃doped with hafnium/hafnium oxide where its phase, grain size andresistance can be controlled by various deposition parameters and postannealing process conditions. The doped indium oxide film is depositedby sputtering (physical vapor deposition, PVD) process in thisexperiment, but other deposition processes such as chemical vapordeposition (CVD), evaporation, atomic layer deposition (ALD) can beused. Using an indium target together with a hafnium target in thepresence of oxygen plasma, hafnium/hafnium oxide doped indium oxidefilms with various physical and electrical properties can be fabricated.The deposition conditions are typically 200–300 W of DC sputteringpower, 0–60% of oxygen partial pressure, 20–200° C. substratetemperature, 400–850° C. post annealing temperature with silicon,silicon dioxide substrates and with or without platinum orplatinum/titanium underlayer. The silicon substrate can be cleaned in HF(50:1) for 5 seconds before indium oxide deposition.

FIG. 3 shows the X-ray patterns of doped In₂O₃ thin films deposited onplatinum substrate with various percentage (0, 10, 20, and 30%) ofhafnium oxide at substrate temperature of 200° C. With increasedpercentage of hafnium oxide dopant, only the peaks of indium thin filmdecrease without any indication of hafnium oxide peaks, indicating thathafnium oxide exists in the In₂O₃ thin film as amorphous state.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D show the X-ray patterns of un-doped, 10% doped,20% doped, and 30% doped In₂O₃ thin films at various annealingtemperatures (400–800° C.) respectively, showing the effects of postannealing on the phase transformation of indium oxide thin filmdeposited on Pt. When deposited, the thin film consists of indium oxidephase with oxygen deficiency. After annealing at 400° C. for 5 minutesin oxygen ambient, the oxygen-poor indium oxide film is mostly transforminto stochiometric indium oxide (In₂O₃) film. The In₂O₃ peaks increasewith increasing annealing temperatures, which means the grain size ofIn₂O₃ thin film increases with increasing annealing temperatures. Thereare no peaks of hafnium oxide, thus the hafnium oxide exists in indiumoxide film as an amorphous state. Even at the annealing temperature of800° C. for 5 minutes, the hafnium oxide is still amorphous.

The effects of post annealing temperatures on the resistivity of indiumoxide are shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D for un-doped, 10% doped, 20%doped, and 30% doped In₂O₃ thin films respectively. After annealing inoxygen ambient for 5 minutes, the resistivity increases with increasingannealing temperature due to the indium oxidation. After reaching themaximum value at around 600° C. for un-doped indium oxide film and 400°C. for doped indium oxide films, the resistivity decreases withincreasing temperatures due to the growth of the grain size.

FIG. 6 shows the dependencies of doped indium oxide resistivity withrespect to dopant concentrations and post anneal temperatures. Thesedata indicate that various physical and electrical properties of aresistive oxide film can be achieved by doping a conductive oxide layerwith selective impurity species.

Employing a doped conductive oxide film as a gate dielectric for theferroelectric transistor, the first embodiment of the present inventionis shown in FIG. 7, illustrating an n-channel doped conductive oxidegate ferroelectric transistor. The gate stack of the present inventioncomprises a top gate electrode 61, a ferroelectric film 62, a bottomgate electrode 68 and a doped conductive oxide gate 51, positioning on ap-type silicon substrate 63, and disposed between the source 64 anddrain 65 regions having a high concentration of n-type impurity ions.The ferroelectric transistor is isolated by the isolation trenches 66.The gate insulator of the present invention transistor is replaced witha doped conductive oxide such as hafnium (or Zr, La, or Al) oxide dopedIn₂O₃ to prevent floating gate effect.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show the operation of the above n-channel dopedconductive oxide ferroelectric transistor. In FIG. 8A, when a positivevoltage is applied to the gate electrode 61, polarization of theferroelectric film 62 occurs with electrons pulled to the top and holespulled to the bottom of the ferroelectric film. Electrons are thenaccumulated at the doped conductive oxide and the surface of the siliconunder the ferroelectric gate stack. This forms a high conductive channel67. Therefore the ferroelectric transistor is “ON”, i.e. if a voltagebias is placed across the source 64 and the drain 65, a current willflow through the transistor. The ferroelectric transistor memory isnonvolatile, meaning that the transistor remains in the ON state evenafter this positive voltage is removed due to the remnant polarizationof the ferroelectric film 62.

In FIG. 8B, when a negative voltage is applied to the gate electrode 61,opposite polarization occurs in the ferroelectric film 62 with holespulled to the top of the ferroelectric gate and electrons pulled to thebottom of the ferroelectric film. Holes then are accumulated at thedoped conductive oxide and the surface of the silicon under theferroelectric gate stack. There are no conduction channel 67, and theferroelectric transistor is “OFF”, i.e. a non-conduction state takesplace between the source 64 and drain 65 regions, and is maintained evenafter the negative voltage is removed.

The doped conductive oxide prevents the bottom electrode 68 from directcontact to the n+ source and drain junctions. Since the bottom electrode68 is connected to the silicon through the doped conductive oxide 51,the bottom electrode 68 is not electrically isolated, and thereforewould not be able to accumulate charges as a floating gate. The chargeretention time of this device is thus independent of the current flowthrough the ferroelectric thin film.

In the second embodiment of the invention, the bottom gate electrode isomitted. Thus the gate stack of the doped conductive oxide gateferroelectric transistor comprises a top gate electrode 161, aferroelectric film 162, and a doped conductive oxide gate 151 as shownin FIG. 9.

The doped conductive oxide in the present invention is preferably adoped conductive metal oxide, but can be without any metal component.The doped conductive oxide can make good interface with the siliconsubstrate, and can be selected to have a good lattice matching with thedeposited ferroelectric film, especially the ones having perovskitecrystal structures.

Furthermore, a doped conductive oxide serving as electrodes for theferroelectric film may improve the quality of the ferroelectric film,and thus improving the operation of the ferroelectric transistor. Aferroelectric film is generally formed in an oxidizing ambience such asa deposition process with oxygen as a reactive gas, or an annealingprocess in an oxygen ambience to improve the stability of the depositedferroelectric film. Therefore the electrode material for a ferroelectricfilm is preferable an oxidization resistant noble metal such as Pt andIr. Doped conductive oxides is already oxidation resistant, and further,due to the high concentration of oxygen, the doped conductive oxide filmcan suppress the movement and accumulation of oxygen at theferroelectric/doped conductive oxide interface to improve thereliability such as fatigue and the controllability of the ferroelectricand therefore its polarization property.

One further advantage of doped conductive metal oxide is its etchselectivity. Oxygen can be used as an etching gas for doped conductivemetal oxides since the steam pressure of metal oxide is typically veryhigh. The doped conductive metal oxide therefore can be etched withhigher selective etching rate than other dielectric films. In addition,the doped conductive metal oxide and the metal can have high selectiveetching rate since the doped conductive metal oxide films (RuO₂, forexample) normally cannot react easily with halogen such as F and Cl usedfor etching the metal films.

The ferroelectric material disclosed in the present invention ispreferably any of the following: Pb(Zr, Ti)O₃ (PZT), SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ (SBT),Pb5Ge₃O₁₁(PGO), BaTiO₃, or LiNbO₃, but any ferroelectric materialexhibiting hysteresis effect can be employed in the conductive oxideferroelectric transistor. The preferred ferroelectric compounds are, inorder of preference, PGO, SBT and PZT.

The bottom electrode and the top electrode are preferably a metal layersuch as aluminum, platinum or iridium, and more preferably a conductivelayer, a conductive oxide layer, a conductive metal oxide layer, or amultilayer such as conductive oxide/metal, or conductive metaloxide/metal.

Within the scope of the invention, the disclosed resistive oxideferroelectric transistor structure may also incorporate all the advancedfeatures of the state of the art technology such as SOI or SIMOXsubstrate, halo or LDD source and drain, sidewall spacers for the gatestack, shallow trench isolation (STI) or LOCOS isolation, silicideformation such as titanium silicide, cobalt silicide, or nickelsilicide, raised source and drain, passivation, tungsten or aluminumcontact, aluminum or copper metallization.

The present invention further discloses the fabrication process for thedoped conductive oxide ferroelectric transistor. Although thefabrication process for the doped conductive oxide ferroelectrictransistor is illustrated and described below with reference to certainspecific processes, the present invention is nevertheless not intendedto be limited to the details shown. The general process of semiconductorfabrication has been practiced for many years, and due to the multitudeof different ways of fabricating a device or structure, variousmodifications may be made in the fabrication process details within thescope and range of the present invention and without departing from themeaning of the invention.

One fabrication process for the doped conductive oxide ferroelectrictransistor is a gate etching process, employing an etching process toform the gate stack and comprising the steps of:

Preparing a semiconductor substrate

Forming a gate stack on the substrate

Forming drain and source regions on opposite sides of the gate stack.

The device fabrication process is then completed with passivation andinterconnect metallization steps.

Preparing a Semiconductor Substrate, FIG. 10A:

The fabrication process starts with a substrate (p-type or n-type, bulkor silicon-on-insulator, SOI or SIMOX) and any state of the art suitableprocesses for the well formation and device isolation. FIG. 10A shows ap-type substrate 210 (similar fabrication process can be applied to ann-type substrate with appropriate corrections and adjustments) andshallow trench isolation (STI) 216 to form an active device area 214.For simplicity, important but unrelated details such as peripherydevices, well formation process and active region threshold voltageadjustment, are not shown.

Forming a Gate Stack on the Substrate, FIG. 10B:

Then the gate stack multilayer of doped conductive oxide/bottomelectrode/ferroelectric film/top electrode is deposited. In the secondembodiment of the invention, the bottom electrode is omitted, and thegate stack multilayer comprises only of three layers: doped conductiveoxide, ferroelectric film, and top electrode. The doped conductive oxideis perferably between 10 to 30 nm thick and is preferably hafnium oxide,zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide or aluminum oxide doped In₂O₃, but canbe any doped conductive oxide or resistive oxide materials as disclosedabove. The bottom electrode is perferably between 50 to 200 nm thick andis perferably platinum or iridium, but can also be any conductive metalor conductive oxide materials. The ferroelectric layer is perferablybetween 50 to 300 nm thick and is perferably PGO, BST or PZT, but can beany ferroelectric material exhibiting hysteresis effect. The topelectrode is perferably between 50 to 200 nm thick and is perferablyaluminum, platinum or iridium, but can also be any conductive metal orconductive oxide materials. Furthermore, the electrode layers (eitherthe bottom or the top electrode) can be a multilayer of metal andconductive oxide.

The gate stack multilayer is then patterned into a ferroelectric gatestack, comprising a top electrode 213, a ferroelectric 212, a bottomelectrode 211, and a doped conductive oxide 201 as shown in FIG. 10B.The patterning of the gate stack multilayer is preferably byphotolithography where a patterned mask is provided on the gate stackmultilayer, then the gate stack multilayer is etched according to thepattern mask, and then the patterned mask is removed. The patterned maskis preferably a photoresist layer, coated and exposed to UV light undera photo mask to transfer a pattern from the photo mask onto thephotoresist. The photoresist mask protects the gate stack multilayerduring an etch step to transfer the pattern from the photoresist ontothe gate stack multilayer. And then the photoresist mask can bestripped. The gate stack multilayer etching is preferably accomplishedby reactive ion etching or by wet etches.

The next step is lightly doping drain (LDD) ion implantation into source218 and drain 219 regions, although the ferroelectric memory transistormay or may not requires this LDD ion implantation. LDD implantationincludes implantation of phosphorus ions at an energy level of 15 keV to40 keV, or arsenic ions at an energy level of 30 keV to 60 keV. Thedoses of the LDD phosphorus or arsenic implantation are about 5×10¹⁴cm⁻² to 10¹⁵ cm⁻² (FIG. 10C), though the specific energy and dose valuescan be adjusted for optimizing the ferroelectric transistor operation.

The next step is sidewall spacer formation. A layer of dielectricmaterial such as silicon nitride or silicon dioxide is deposited ontothe gate stack to a thickness of about between 20 to 80 nm, and then isanisotropic etched to leave a dielectric sidewall spacer 220 on theferroelectric gate stack (FIG. 10D).

Forming Drain and Source Regions on Opposite Sides of the Gate Stack,FIG. 10E.

Then a source region 221 and a drain region 222 are formed byimplantation of doping ions, for example arsenic at a dose of about 10¹⁵cm⁻² to 5×10¹⁵ cm⁻² and at an energy level of 15 keV to 30 keV (FIG.10E).

The device fabrication process is then completed with passivation andinterconnect metallization steps, FIG. 10F. A passivation layer 235 suchas silicon dioxide is deposited on the whole structure to a thickness ofabout 1000 to 2000 nm. The passivation layer may be planarized toimprove the topology of the device. The structure is then annealed at atemperature of between about 400° C. to 500° C. for about 15 to 60minutes. The passivation layer is then patterned, preferably byphotolithography, to form contact holes, and then the fabricationprocess continued with first level metallization contact 241 to source221, contact 243 to gate stack (top electrode 213, ferroelectric 212,bottom electrode 211 and doped conductive oxide 201), contact 242 todrain 222.

The gate etching process for the second embodiment of the presentinvention (the ferroelectric transistor with the gate stack of topelectrode/ferroelectric/doped conductive oxide) is similar to the abovegate etching process, with the exception of the omission of the bottomgate electrode steps, meaning no bottom gate electrode deposition and nobottom gate electrode etching.

Alternatively, the ferroelectric gate stack may be fabricated by areplacement gate process similar to Hsu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,421,entitled “Method of making metal gate sub-micron MOS transistor”, herebyincorporated by reference. The fabrication process uses a replacementprocess to form the gate stack and comprises the steps of:

Preparing a semiconductor substrate

Forming a replacement gate stack comprising a sacrificial layer

Forming drain and source regions on opposite sides of the replacementgate stack

Filling the areas surrounding the replacement gate stack while exposinga top portion of the replacement gate stack

Removing the sacrificial layer portion of the replacement gate stack

Forming the remainder of the gate stack.

The device fabrication process is then completed with passivation andinterconnect metallization steps.

Preparing a Semiconductor Substrate, FIG. 11A:

Similar to the gate etching process, the fabrication process starts withpreparing a substrate (p-type or n-type, bulk or silicon-on-insulator,SOI or SIMOX) and any state of the art suitable processes for the wellformation and device isolation. FIG. 11A shows a p-type substrate 310(similar fabrication process can be applied to an n-type substrate withappropriate corrections and adjustments) and shallow trench isolation(STI) 316 to form an active device 314. For simplicity, important butunrelated details such as periphery devices, well formation process andactive region threshold voltage adjustment, are not shown.

Forming a Replacement Gate Stack Comprising a Sacrificial Layer on theSubstrate, FIG. 11B:

Then the multilayer replacement gate stack is deposited. The replacementgate stack serves as a place holder for the continued fabrication of thedevice, and will be removed before the fabrication of the functionalgate stack. Thus the multilayer replacement gate stack comprises thefirst two layers (doped conductive oxide and bottom electrode) of themultilayer gate stack, and a sacrificial gate replacement layer. In thesecond embodiment of the invention where the bottom electrode of thegate stack is omitted, the replacement gate stack comprises only thedoped conductive oxide layer and the sacrificial gate replacement layer.The doped conductive oxide is perferably between 10 to 30 nm thick andis preferably hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide oraluminum oxide doped In₂O₃, but can be any doped conductive oxide orresistive material as disclosed above. The bottom electrode isperferably between 50 to 200 nm thick and is perferably platinum oriridium, but also can be any conductive material. The sacrificial gatereplacement layer is preferably between about 100 to 300 nm thick and ispreferably silicon nitride or silicon dioxide. Since the sacrificialgate replacement layer serves as a place holder for the functional gatestack, the thickness of the sacrificial layer is partially determined bythe total thickness of the remainder of the functional gate stack.

The replacement gate stack multilayer is then patterned into aferroelectric gate stack, comprising a replacement gate layer 330, abottom electrode 311, and a doped conductive oxide 301 as shown in FIG.11B. The patterning of the gate stack multilayer is preferably byphotolithography and reactive ion etching.

The next step is lightly doping drain (LDD) ion implantation into source318 and drain 319 regions, although the ferroelectric memory transistormay or may not require this LDD ion implantation. LDD implantationincludes implantation of phosphorus ions at an energy level of 15 keV to40 keV, or arsenic ions at an energy level of 30 keV to 60 keV. Thedoses of the LDD phosphorus or arsenic implantation are about 5×10¹⁴cm⁻² to 10¹⁵ cm⁻² (FIG. 11C).

Then a layer of dielectric material such as silicon nitride or silicondioxide is deposited onto the replacement gate stack to a thickness ofabout between 20 to 80 nm, and then is anisotropic etched to leave adielectric sidewall spacer 320 on the ferroelectric gate stack (FIG.11D).

Forming Drain and Source Regions on Opposite Sides of the ReplacementGate Stack, (FIG. 11E):

Then a source region 321 and a drain region 322 are formed byimplantation of doping ions, for example arsenic at a dose of about 10¹⁵cm⁻² to 5×10¹⁵ cm⁻² and at an energy level of 15 keV to 30 keV.

Filling the Areas Surrounding the Replacement Gate Stack While Exposinga Top Portion of the Replacement Gate Stack, FIG. 11F:

A dielectric layer 335 such as silicon dioxide is deposited on the wholestructure. The dielectric layer is then planarized, preferably by achemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process. The thickness of thedielectric layer is preferably about 50% thicker than the replacementgate layer 330 to prevent dishing during planarization.

Removing the Sacrificial Layer Portion of the Replacement Gate Stack,FIG. 11G:

The replacement gate layer 330 is removed to expose a gate trench 337,preferably by a wet etch process to prevent damage to the surroundingstructure.

An optional spacer 340 can be formed in the sidewall of the gate trench.The spacer formation is preferably by depositing a layer of siliconnitride of about 10 to 30 nm thick, and then anisotropically etched(FIG. 11H).

Forming the Remainder of the Gate Stack, FIG. 11I:

The ferroelectric layer is then deposited into the gate trench. Theferroelectric layer is perferably PGO, BST or PZT, but can be anyferroelectric material exhibiting hysteresis effect. The thickness ofthe ferroelectric layer is preferably slightly thicker than the depth ofthe gate trench to minimize the dishing effect during the subsequent CMPprocess of planarizing the ferroelectric layer 312.

The top electrode 313 is then fabricated on the feroelectric layer 312.The top electrode formation is preferably by depositing a blanket layerof top eletrode material, and then is patterned into the top electrode,preferably by photolithography and reactive ion etching techniques (FIG.11J). The top electrode is perferably between 50 to 200 nm thick and isperferably aluminum, platinum or iridium, but also can be any conductivematerial.

The device fabrication process is then completed with passivation andinterconnect metallization steps, FIG. 11K. A passivation layer such assilicon dioxide is deposited on the whole structure to a thickness ofabout 300 to 500 nm. The structure is then annealed at a temperature ofbetween about 400° C. to 500° C. for about 15 to 60 minutes. Thepassivation layer is then patterned, preferably by photolithography, toform contact holes, and then the fabrication process continued withfirst level metallization contact 341 to source 321, contact 343 to gatestack (top electrode 313, ferroelectric 312, bottom electrode 311 anddoped conductive oxide 301), contact 342 to drain 322.

The replacement gate process for the second embodiment of the presentinvention (the ferroelectric transistor with the gate stack of topelectrode/ferroelectric/doped conductive oxide) is similar to the abovereplacement process, with the exception of the omission of the bottomgate electrode steps, meaning no bottom gate electrode deposition and nobottom gate electrode etching.

Thus a novel ferroelectric transistor and its memory cell applicationhas been disclosed, together with the method of device fabrication. Itwill be appreciated that though preferred embodiments of the inventionhave been disclosed, further variations and modifications thereof may bemade within the scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims. Further, although the invention has been described withreference to a ferroelectric transistor for use with nonvolatile memoryapplications, other applications of the inventive concepts disclosedherein will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.

1. A method of fabricating a ferroelectric transistor comprising thesteps of: preparing a semiconductor substrate; forming a gate stack onthe substrate, the gate stack comprising a conductive oxide overlyingthe substrate; doping the conductive oxide using an impurity species;modifying the resistance of the conductive oxide in response to theimpurity species, forming a doped conductive oxide; and forming drainand source regions on opposite sides of the gate stack.
 2. A method asin claim 1 wherein the I–V characteristic of the doped conductive oxideis substantially linear.
 3. A method as in claim 1 wherein the gatestack further comprises a ferroelectric material layer over the dopedconductive oxide layer; and a top electrode conductive layer over theferroelectric material layer.
 4. A method as in claim 1 wherein the gatestack further comprises a bottom electrode conductive layer over thedoped conductive oxide layer; a ferroelectric material layer over thebottom electrode layer; and a top electrode conductive layer over theferroelectric material layer.
 5. A method as in claim 3 wherein the topelectrode conductive layer is selected from the group consisting of alayer of metal, a layer of conductive oxide, or a multilayer of metaland conductive oxide.
 6. A method as in claim 1 wherein the dopedconductive oxide layer comprises a conductive perovskite oxide, a hightemperature superconducting oxide, or an oxide film of any metalselected from a group consisted of Mo, W, Tc, Re, Ru, Os, Rh, Ir, Pd,Pt, In, Zn, Sn, Nd, Nb, Sm, La, and V.
 7. A method as in claim 1 whereinthe conductive oxide is indium oxide.
 8. A method as in claim 1 whereinthe impurity species is selected from a groups consisting of Hf, Zr, Al,La, hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide and lanthanum oxide.9. A method as in claim 1 wherein the doped conductive oxide is indiumoxide doped with hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide oraluminum oxide.
 10. A method as in claim 1 wherein the gate stack is areplacement gate stack further comprising a sacrificial layer over thedoped conductive oxide layer, and the fabrication method furthercomprising the following steps filling the areas surrounding thereplacement gate stack while exposing the top portion of the replacementgate stack; removing the sacrificial layer portion of the replacementgate stack; forming the remainder of the gate stack, the remainder ofthe gate stack comprising a ferroelectric material layer over theconductive oxide layer; and a top electrode conductive layer over theferroelectric material layer.
 11. A method as in claim 10 wherein thereplacement gate stack further comprises a bottom electrode conductivelayer positioned between the conductive oxide layer and the sacrificiallayer.
 12. A method as in claim 10 wherein the filling of the areassurrounding the replacement gate stack while exposing a top portion ofthe replacement gate stack comprises the deposition of a dielectricfilm; and the planarization of the deposited dielectric film to exposethe top portion of the replacement gate stack.
 13. A method as in claim10 wherein the formation of the remainder of the gate stack comprisesthe deposition of the ferroelectric material layer; the planarization ofthe ferroelectric material layer; the deposition of the top electrodeconductive layer; the photolithography patterning of the top electrodeconductive layer; and the etching of the top electrode conductive layer.14. A method of fabricating a ferroelectric transistor comprising:supplying a semiconductor substrate; forming an indium oxide layeroverlying the substrate; doping the indium oxide with an impurityspecies; modifying the resistance of the indium oxide, forming a dopedindium oxide layer; forming a ferroelectric material layer overlying thedoped indium oxide layer; forming a gate top electrode conductive layeroverlying the ferroelectric material layer; and forming drain and sourceregions.
 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising: forming a bottomelectrode interposed between the doped indium oxide layer and theferroelectric material layer.
 16. A method of fabricating aferroelectric transistor comprising: supplying a silicon (Si) substrate;forming a metal oxide layer overlying the substrate; doping the metaloxide layer with an impurity species; in response to the doping, forminga conductive metal oxide layer; forming a gate stack overlying theconductive oxide layer; forming source and drain regions; in response toforming the conductive oxide layer, preventing elements from diffusinginto the Si substrate from the gate stack; and in response to formingthe conductive oxide layer, forming an electrically conductive pathbetween the gate stack and the Si substrate.
 17. The method of claim 16wherein forming the gate stack includes: forming a ferroelectricmaterial layer overlying the conductive oxide layer; forming a gate topelectrode conductive layer overlying the ferroelectric material layer.18. The method of claim 17 wherein forming the gate stack furtherincludes: forming a bottom electrode interposed between the conductiveoxide layer and the ferroelectric material layer.